Why does your subject look distorted in smartphone photos
Have you ever looked back at a smartphone photo and thought, “Why does their face look weird?” or “That building doesn’t curve like that in real life”? If so, you’ve encountered lens distortion, one of the most common (and misunderstood) quirks of smartphone photography.
Most of the time, this distortion sneaks into your shots without you noticing. But once you know what to look for—and how to manage it—it becomes another creative tool in your composition toolkit.
Let’s break down what lens distortion is, why it happens, how to avoid it, and when to embrace it.
What is lens distortion?
Lens distortion happens when a camera lens bends light in a way that causes straight lines to appear curved or a subject’s shape to look stretched or compressed. In smartphone photography, the most common type is barrel distortion, which causes edges to bow outward—like the shape of a barrel.
You’ll often notice this with:
Straight lines that appear curved near the edges of the frame
People’s faces looking stretched or wide when close to the lens
Objects at the edge of the photo appearing larger or warped compared to the center
It’s especially obvious when using the ultra-wide lens on your phone or shooting with your subject positioned toward the frame’s edge.
Why smartphones are more prone to distortion
Smartphones are engineered to be thin and compact. To squeeze a wide field of view into a tiny camera body, phone manufacturers use wide-angle lenses by default. These lenses are great for capturing more of the scene—perfect for group shots, landscapes, or interior spaces—but they naturally introduce distortion around the edges.
In many cases, your phone’s software applies automatic distortion correction behind the scenes. However, it’s not perfect, and the correction can sometimes soften edges or crop the image.
What’s important to know is this: lens distortion is not a flaw—it’s a characteristic. When you understand how it works, you can either work around it or use it intentionally.
How to spot distortion in your photos
The most obvious clue is when something in your photo looks “off” without a clear reason.
A person’s face looks stretched or unusually wide
A bottle or pole curves when it should be straight
A building bows outward at the sides
A selfie looks unflattering even though it felt fine in the moment
Check the corners and edges of your frame—this is where distortion is usually strongest. In contrast, the center of the frame generally maintains more accurate proportions.
How to avoid unflattering distortion
If your goal is natural, undistorted images, here are a few easy techniques:
Keep subjects centered: Especially with portraits, avoid placing faces near the edges.
Step back and zoom in: Moving farther away from your subject and using slight zoom flattens perspective and reduces distortion.
Avoid ultra-wide lens for close-ups: Stick to your phone’s main (1x) lens when photographing people or anything sensitive to shape.
Level your camera: Tilting your phone up or down exaggerates distortion in buildings or vertical lines.
Use built-in gridlines: These help you spot curves or bending before you take the shot.
These habits will naturally reduce the kind of distortion that makes a photo look “off,” especially in portraits or architectural images.
How to use distortion creatively
Distortion doesn’t have to be a bad thing. In fact, it can make your images more dynamic when used intentionally.
Here’s how smartphone photographers use it creatively:
Dramatic foreground emphasis: Place an object close to the lens to make it pop or exaggerate its size compared to the background.
Expressive close-ups: Push in close with the ultra-wide lens for a bold, fun portrait with exaggerated features (great for pets, kids, or stylized shots).
Dynamic motion: Tilt your camera while capturing fast movement—like a skateboarder or runner—for a sense of energy and speed.
Surreal or abstract compositions: Bend space and lines to create interesting distortions that make viewers look twice.
The key is knowing when you’re using distortion and why—so the effect supports your story instead of distracting from it.
Did you know? A brief history of distortion in photography
Lens distortion isn’t new. In the 1800s, early camera lenses struggled with extreme distortion, especially in architectural photography. Photographers would painstakingly correct lines in the darkroom, or use expensive “corrective” lenses like the rectilinear lens developed in 1866.
Later, large-format and view cameras allowed photographers to use movements like tilt and shift to keep vertical lines straight. These techniques are now built into software like Lightroom and Snapseed, letting you correct distortion digitally.
Interestingly, with the rise of ultra-wide lenses on smartphones, some photographers are embracing distortion again - not as a flaw, but as a feature that adds energy, intimacy, and character.
Common mistakes to avoid
Here are a few traps many smartphone photographers fall into:
Shooting portraits too close with wide-angle lenses: This leads to big noses, small ears, and unhappy subjects.
Placing people at the edge of the frame in group shots: The people on the ends might look twice their actual size.
Relying too much on ultra-wide: It’s great for landscapes, but not ideal for anything where shape and proportion matter.
Avoid these, and you’ll dramatically improve how natural and balanced your compositions feel.
Related techniques from the book
If you’re interested in this topic, you might also want to explore:
Perspective distortion – similar effect, but caused by camera position and angle
Fill the frame – often used to reduce distractions, but can amplify distortion
Off-centre composition – smart positioning that affects how distortion is perceived
All of these interact with lens distortion in subtle but important ways.
Conclusion: Make distortion work for you, not against you
Most smartphone photographers don’t realize how much lens distortion affects their photos until someone points it out. Once you understand it, though, it becomes easy to manage. You’ll know when to work around it—and when to lean into it.
With just a few simple adjustments, you can stop distortion from ruining your shots… or use it to your creative advantage.
📘 This is just one of over 100 techniques inside Stronger Photo Composition 4-Step System. If you’re ready to take full control of how your smartphone photos look and feel, this book gives you the structure, tips, and confidence to compose like a pro.
